Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, March 31, 1999

1999-03-31 04:00:00 PDT RICHMOND -- A Richmond woman who says she was sickened by a huge fire at Chevron sued the company yesterday, alleging negligence, while company officials maintained in a report to Contra Costa County that there should be no adverse health effects in surrounding communities.

In what may be the first personal injury suit filed against Chevron for the fiery explosion in a hydrocracker unit Thursday, Ruby Judge says that the refinery's negligence allowed oily smoke containing caustic sulfur compounds to billow through her neighborhood, worsening her asthma and making her nauseated.

Chevron, county health officials and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District insisted that no significant amounts of hydrogen sulfide or sulfur dioxide were found in samples taken in neighborhoods near the refinery during the fire.

County hazardous-materials spokeswoman Tracy Hein-Silva said residents were advised to stay indoors to avoid the smoke.

The company's brief accident summary in a required 72-hour report to the county health department does not say why a pipe failed, leaking partially refined oil, which erupted in flames moments after workers detected it. Hein-Silva said officials did not expect Chevron to address the cause at this point because access to the damaged equipment, which smoldered for days, is still limited.

But Judge's attorney, Mike Meadows, included a charge of negligence in the complaint filed in Contra Costa Superior Court.

"These things don't happen without negligence on the part of the operations or the maintenance," said Meadows, who helped negotiate an $80 million settlement for neighbors of a former Unocal refinery in Rodeo that leaked catacarb over a two-week period in 1994. His Walnut Creek firm is also representing the family of one of four workers killed in a flash fire at Tosco's refinery near Martinez on February 23.

Hein-Silva said Chevron has agreed to allow county experts to participate in the company's internal inquiry into the root cause of the hydrocracker fire, even though the county lacks authority because the refinery is within Richmond city limits.

Her lawsuit asks for punitive damages as well as Chevron's agreement to set up a fund to monitor health effects from the fire as well as the establishment of an improved emergency warning system to warn residents of any future toxic releases. Meadows said he expects all such suits, including any class-action suits, to be consolidated for trial.

Air district spokeswoman Lucia Libretti said the agency is likely to issue at least two citations against Chevron for creating a public nuisance and for visible emissions from the refinery fire. No citations have yet been issued.

Dean Fryer, a spokesman for Cal-OSHA, said the agency is investigating the blast and fire even though no employees were seriously injured. Two emergency workers received minor injuries, but Fryer said the consequences could have been much worse.

"An accident like this could have had great potential for injuries to employees," Fryer said.

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